In my career I have the pleasure of working with some of the best wedding photographers in Toronto and they taught me a lot of tricks on how to deliver outstanding images even when one lacks inspiration or is under tremendous pressure on the big day.
The technique, called five shots, was created by a BBC videographer Mike Rosenblum. The technique focuses on various frames and intends to deliver a variety of imagery that tells a complete story.
First, the wedding photographer should take a wide angle shot, also known as an environmental portrait of the couple.
Second, the artist should focus on the upper part of the body to capture the bride and groom's reactions: love happiness, tears and other emotions.
Third, we need to take the detail shots. A picture of the boutonniere, the bouquet, of the couple holding hands, or in this case of their feet. Removing the frame out of the context and not providing the whole picture creates tension in the viewer's mind according to the principles of Gestalt. That, in turn, increases the value of the photograph.
The beauty of this technique is that one can create splendid images regardless of the wedding venue, the weather or sometimes even the light. Details such as the bouquet, shoes or the boutonniere look good even in midday harsh light.
This special event at Kortright Centre was not the first time when I successfully applied this technique. There is a psychological aspect that intervening is under severe time constraints. On the wedding day, stress makes us revert to the reptilian brain that works best in fight or flight situations. As such, we are not able to think creatively under pressure so it always a good idea to have a backup plan.
Having a wedding photography shot list or a backup plan is crucial in delivering good results to our brides and grooms.
In this photograph, I was a for a reason to showcase the bride's beautiful shoes and I posed the couple in such way as to also make the love between them apparent. The groom's knee is bent towards the love of his life. That indicates on a subtle level his affection to her. According to body language experts the way we point or knees, hands and feet shows or attraction to our partner. Also, the multiple points of contact is a form of expression of our love. Subconsciously, we tried to hug our better half and when we cannot do that, we touch her hand her foot, hair etc.
In this image I used the Dutch tilt so that the couple's bodies are placed alongside the reciprocal sinister diagonal.
The fact that we cannot see the couple's hands were upper body leaves space for imagination. Are they kissing? Are they looking at the camera? Are they happy, sad, laughing, crying? All those questions make the viewer enjoy the photograph even more.
A funny aspect of the story is that the groom shoes became dirty when he walked through the forest At Kortright Centre for Conservation so I helped him clean them. No, that is what I call exceptional customer service! From the first day of the morning when we document the bride and groom's preparation, to the wedding ceremony, photo shoot and reception we always keep an eye on small details that make our clients look so good and or pictures.
Location: 9550 Pine Valley Dr, Woodbridge, ON L4L 1A6.
